Sin and duty in regard to signs.
The passage is interesting for this among other reasons, that Ahaz is charged with guilt for declining that course the resort to which became the national sin (1 Corinthians 1:22), and for using words which were afterwards employed by the Savior himself in repelling the attack of the evil one (Matthew 4:7). We are, therefore, reminded—
I. THAT THE WORTH OR UNWORTHINESS OF AN ACTION DEPENDS LARGELY ON ITS ATTENDANT CONDITIONS. The Jews who sought a sign from Christ were rebuked by him for so doing (Matthew 12:38, Matthew 12:39). Ahaz is reproved for not asking for one on this occasion. The circumstances of the two cases made all the difference. In the ease of the Pharisees, abundant miraculous evidence had already been granted, and they demanded a work of a particular kind after their own fancy; in the case of Ahaz, he deliberately refused the special privilege which God offered him. That which is right and wise under certain circumstances may be wrong and foolish under others. Many things which are proper to youth are improper to age, and vice versa; language which is devotion on the lips of the half-enlightened would be irreverence in the mouth of the children of privilege. Clearly instructed by God, the Israelites were simply obedient and courageous when they expelled the Canaanites from the country and occupied their land, but an invasion of another's territory and expulsion or slaughter of its inhabitants without such express authority from above would be a crime of the greatest magnitude; etc.
II. THAT WE DO WELL TO SHRINK HONESTLY AND EARNESTLY FROM TEMPTING GOD. Honestly; for an insincere profession of doing so is of no account. Ahaz probably used this as a mere pretext with which to cover his real unwillingness to have the will of God unmistakably revealed. And earnestly; for to tempt God is a serious sin and a calamitous mistake. We do tempt him when we neglect our duty as citizens of this world or as travelers to eternity, or when we deliberately run great risks, whether bodily or spiritual, unwarrantably presuming on God's interposing power or inexhaustible grace.
III. THAT WE SHOULD GRATEFULLY ACCEPT THE LOWER AS WELL AS THE HIGHER INFLUENCES WHICH GOD OFFERS US. A sign such as Jehovah offered Ahaz was a privilege of a lower order than the exhortation of his servant Isaiah. A miracle which appeals to the senses and the imagination is not so high and pure an influence as a sacred truth which appeals to the conscience and the reason. Yet it had its own value, and was not to be disregarded or declined. We should fear God, should exercise faith in Jesus Christ, should serve our race, first stud most because it is our sacred duty so to do; but we may well be animated and impelled by other and less lofty considerations—by the fear of offending God, by the hope of gaining his favor and his reward, by a desire to win the gratitude of those we serve, by a wish to please those to whom we are related. The superfine purity which will not be moved by any but the very highest considerations does not suit our human nature, and is not sanctioned in the Divine Word.
IV. THAT THE PATIENCE OF A LONG-SUFFERING GOD MAY BE OUTWORN BY OUR PERVERSITY. "Will ye weary my God also?" (verse 13). Much is said in Scripture of the patience of God. He is "slow to anger, and of great mercy" (Psalms 145:8). We read of "the riches of his forbearance and long-suffering" (Romans 2:4). And they who are honestly trying to please and serve him may count on his considerateness, though their efforts be imperfect and their mistakes be many. But they who pertinaciously refuse his yoke, and stubbornly go on their own way when he is calling them to walk in his paths, may find that it is only too possible to "weary him also," and to bring down irreparable evil on their souls.—C.